A 12-YEAR-OLD girl was approached by a man outside a high school in the same week a warning went out to all schools in the area advising children to be vigilant.

The Helsby High School pupil was waiting in the coach park of the school for her mother to pick her up for a pre-arranged appointment at 2.15pm on Tuesday.

Moments later, while taking shelter from heavy rain, the girl noticed a man in a red car approaching her.

The man, described as white, in his 60s, clean-shaven and wearing a 'farmer-style' flat cap, asked the girl if she wanted to come inside the car to get out of the rain.

She refused and the man drove the car - described by the girl as an old-style red Peugeot hatch-back - across to the opposite side of the road from the school, where he remained.

A letter highlighting a suspect male in a red car is believed to have been sent to Helsby High, Frodsham High and schools as far away as Winsford this week.

Insp Phil Hodgson of Western Rural Policing said: 'There have been a series of incidents across the county over a period of time.

'One of the first was an incident in Elton where a man in a red car asked a boy, quite forcibly, to get into his car.

'However, due to no registration details and a difference in the description of the age of the suspect, we are trying to establish if there is indeed a link.' nAnyone with information should telephone Detective Sergeant Ian Morgan of the Western Rural Investigations Team on 01244 612544, or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.